Ace Attorney 5 will be an eShop-only offering

Ace Attorney 5, the next game to star series stalwart Phoenix Wright, has been redubbed Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies where it will be available as an eShop-only digital download when it comes to 3DS this autumn in Europe and North America.

The sequel will be set eight years after Wright made his last appearance in court and will open with everyone's favourite spiky-haired lawyer in a destroyed courtroom where we'll have to investigate the labyrinthine turn of events that lead to this intriguing scenario.

So why a digital-only release? Capcom senior vice president Christian Svensson said this comes down to retail pressure. "Historically it's been tough to attract long term retail support for Ace Attorney titles," Svensson wrote on the Capcom-Unity forums. "With the release of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies we wanted as many people as possible to be able to enjoy the game for as long as possible. With that in mind we have opted for a digital only release via the Nintendo 3DS eShop."

He then added, "We will be confirming details on the price point in the not-so-distant future which I hope will also shed more light on the strategy at play here," suggesting that a discounted price may be in order to make up for that lonely space next to Apollo Justice on your shelf.